Lawmakers this week overrode Gov. Charlie Baker's budget veto of a $50,000 program that will now help homeowners stuck with crumbling concrete foundations from a Connecticut quarry pay for inspections and gathering and analyzing core samples.

The program, sponsored by State Sen. Anne Gobi, D-Spencer, was one of two tainted-concrete provisions in the fiscal year 2019 budget that is now in place. The other, sponsored by State Sen. Eric Lesser, D-Longmeadow, creates a commission to study the problem and come up with solutions.

The problem is the naturally occurring pyrrhotite in the gravel used to make the concrete local homes.

Over a period of decades the pyrrhotite reacts with water and oxygen. It swells, and the resulting pressure cracks and crumbles the structure. It takes 10, 15 or even 20 years for the cracking and swelling to become apparent.

Becker Quarry in Willington, Connecticut, sold the pyrrhotite-contaminated stone to the now defunct JJ Mottes concrete company from 1983 until 2017, when they agreed to stop.

There are 34,000 homes in Connecticut suspected of at least having the mineral. The number is believed to be lower in Massachusetts, but homeowners in Longmeadow, East Longmeadow, Ware, Monson, Wales and Palmer could be affected.

No one knows how many Massachusetts homes have the problem. That's one reason Gobi wants to encourage homeowners to get their concrete inspected and tested.

Under her amendment, the state would reimburse homeowners 100 percent of the cost, up to $400, for a visual inspection performed by a licensed professional engineer. And the state would reimburse homeowners 75 percent for the testing of two core samples up to $5,000.

Connecticut floated a bond to help consumers pay for testing.

Lesser's commission would bring together the Massachusetts governor's office, lawmakers, state banking and insurance regulators, the attorney general's office and others.

Homeowners are often caught in a horrible situation once the pyrrhotite damage is discovered. The only solution is to jack up the home and replace the concrete. but that can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, and they can't often borrow money because their home's value is destroyed. Some fear homeowners will walk away, leading to mortgage foreclosures and lost tax revenues for towns and cities.

Massachusetts mortgage lenders are already asking home inspectors to be on the lookout for telltale cracks and won't lend if they suspect pyrrhotite.